BOLTON town centre will be open for “business as usual” while a protest and a counter-protest are staged tomorrow, a senior police officer and a council director say.

Campaign group Stop The Mosque plans to object in Victoria Square to the planned construction of a three-storey mosque and a community centre in Grecian Crescent, Great Lever, which has been given planning permission.

The rally, which is also a protest against the council, will take place around lunchtime and has attracted a planned opposition protest called by Bolton Trades Council and Unite Against Fascism and supported by Bolton Against Racism.

Chief Inspector Clark Bowers and Stephen Young, director of place at the council, said: “We legally need to facilitate this peaceful protest and manage it for the benefit of the community as a whole.

“We have held widespread dialogue and consultation with key partners in the community.

“We have been all-encompassing.

“It will be business as usual for Bolton throughout the protest.”

The authorities have had discussions with representatives from Stop The Mosque in the past two weeks they have known about the protest.

They are legally unable to prevent the protest or impose conditions on participants.

It is anticipated up to 150 people will attend from around 12.30pm. Victoria Square will remain open during the protest.

No pubs or shops are being forced to close temporarily and no road closures are planned.

Businesses in the shopping area have been briefed and discussions have been held with councillors, the Bolton Council of Mosques and other members of the community to update them.

Officers policing the protest and the counter-protest will be monitoring crowds to see if any behaviour, chants or speeches or placards, posters and banners break the law by being offensive.

Stop The Mosque’s rally is legally classified as a ‘protest’ rather than a ‘demonstration’.

Such freedom of assembly and association is allowed under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.